October 26, 2012 10:36pm EDTOctober 26, 2012 11:59am EDTNBA teams have soured on offering big extensions to young players. Blake Griffin has signed his deal, and James Harden could be next. Still, the remainder of the '09 draft have yet to take steps toward new contracts.

Three years ago, there were seven players on rookie contracts who were signed to extensions by their teams, for a total of about $320 million. The following year, there were just five players who got extensions, at $270 million, and last offseason, there were also five players, at $285 million. This year, with six days to go before the deadline there has been just one—the 2009 draft’s top pick, Blake Griffin.

Notice a trend? There are still big-money extensions to be had out there. But, increasingly, teams are trigger-shy when it comes to committing to young players eligible for extensions, and that figures to continue this week.

Much of the attention on this year’s batch of fourth-year players (that’s when first-rounders are eligible for extensions, under NBA rules) centers on Thunder guard James Harden, who was the No. 3 pick in ’09 and is the only player outside of Griffin from that draft class worthy of something close to a max deal. Oklahoma City already has a tight payroll, though, with max deals having gone to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and sizable extensions having been awarded to Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka, too.

But when it comes to the other players most likely to come away with new deals—Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Brandon Jennings, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson—there doesn’t seem to be much incentive to force an extension, and this year’s crop of extended players could be even smaller than what we saw last year.

“It still can be done,” said Bucks general manager John Hammond, who is working on an extension for Jennings. “Most of you, just need to have the same desires, you need to have a guy you want to extend and who wanted to be there. That’s the starting point. But there are triggers in place that help us retain these players. And that is that they go into restricted free agency and if we’re not able to sign an extension.”

Not long ago, there was a stigma about restricted free agency. Teams didn’t like letting their young players get to that point without an extension, because it gave the appearance that the team wasn’t happy with the player—if you did not give him an extension, the presumption was that you made a mistake in the draft three years earlier. But as the economics of basketball have tightened, teams are much more willing to gamble on restricted free agency, knowing that even without extensions, they maintain the players’ rights and can match offers.

That was the case this summer for a number of players—Eric Gordon,Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert failed to get extensions from their teams, but were still able to wrangle max offers from other teams this summer. In the case of all three, their current teams matched the offers and kept the players. Similarly, Blazers forward Nicolas Batum got a large contract offer from the Timberwolves, but Portland opted to match. Knowing that, and with the idea that restricted free agency somehow represents a failure having been debunked, teams are just not under much pressure to lock up their young players ahead of time.

It makes sense for some of these players to wait, too. There will be a wide range of teams with plenty of cap space available next season—including two in Houston and Dallas very eager to land stars—and finding a team to grant a big offer sheet won’t be difficult. The only reason a team would give an extension now is if a good deal could be negotiated, and a good deal for the team probably means less money for the player. Otherwise, restricted free agency is a logical choice.

There is, though, the personal element. Giving a player some long-term security with an extension helps the relationship with the team, and things can get ugly in restricted free agency—both Gordon and Batum expressed their desire to leave their current organizations, drumming up some bad will in the process. The weight of playing for a contract can be difficult, too. Already in the preseason, Harden has looked distracted, shooting 28.6 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from the 3-point line.

Jennings, too, has struggled and shot just 37.6 percent from the field in the preseason. He showed improvement last year and is a key to the Bucks’ development this year—if he is worrying about a contract or bitter with the team if extension talks fail, it could hurt him on the court. “That is always a concern,” Hammond said. “This is a sport and a business, but like any other business, this is a people business.

And relationships are important and communication is important. It is something you have to be aware of.”

The personal element is important. But looking at the way things have gone when it comes to extensions, the business element is much more pressing.